Duty Of Life
by Audio Pineapple
Summary: After Charlie botches a sucide attempt Claire feels forced into caring for him, while Jack struggles with his anger at Locke causing it [set after Fire and Water.]
1. The smell of blood

**Timeline: **Set soon after Fire and Water.

**Disclaimer: **I am not affiliated in any way shape or form with the show or the people.

"But I don't want to do it," even to her own ears Claire knew that she was sounding petty.

Jack obviously thought so as well because he sighed heavily. He glanced down to his get that he shuffled on the ground before looking back at her. "I know it seems like a lot to ask…"

"It _is_ a lot to ask! I can't stand him Jack, and I don't want my baby to be around him!"

"Aaron doesn't have to be with Charlie, okay?" Jack paused, offering her the chance to air her opinions but she remained silent, her arms folded over her chest. "You might be his only chance to get better, he loves you."

Claire nodded, she still wanted to refuse Jack's proposal but she didn't know how to do so without everybody hating her. Jack patted a hand absent-mindedly on her shoulder before leading her into the hatch.

The smell of blood threatened to overpower her and she was thankful she had left Aaron with Sun back at the beach. She swallowed hard, she could still leave, she could turn and run back, she didn't have to do this.

She laid her eyes on Charlie though and she felt the guilt overwhelm her. Charlie was laid out on the hatch bed, Kate sitting beside him. The stitches were running down both his arms and his face lit up the moment he saw her. He tried to get up but Kate gently pushed him back down.

"Kate," Jack's tone was authortative and she got up instantly, smiling half-heartedly at Claire before walking to another part of the hatch, accompanied with Jack.

Claire sat down next to Charlie and he took hold of one of her hands, she fought off her instincts to pull it away.

"Hey."

"Hi Charlie."

"I'm sorry, you know? About this."

"No, its okay," she patted his hand with her free one. "Just promise me you won't do it again Charlie."

"I wouldn't need to, you're here now."

The guilt swept through her again. When Jack had come to her tent stating that Charlie had attempted suicide she hadn't felt guilty, she'd barely even felt sad. But when she'd been told that the note said _'I can't live without her'_ she had begun to blame herself. Jack had instructed her to keep Charlie placated so she smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm here now."

"I'm going to kill him." Jack ran a hand through his hair, feeling his blood starting to boil.

"Who, Charlie?"

"No, not Charlie."

"Maybe you need to calm down, here," Kate held out a glass of water and he shook his head.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Who?"

"Locke, Kate, Locke!"

Kate sighed, putting the water down. She could understand that Jack was angry, but she didn't know how he'd managed to blame Locke for something yet again.

Jack picked up on the sigh and glared at her, "think about it, a few days after Locke assaults him, humiliates him, causes Claire to leave him, he tries this. It's Locke's fault." He looked through at Charlie and began to storm towards the exit.

"Jack!"

"Stay here, keep and eye on Charlie, Claire and the button. Let Claire go when she wants but don't leave Charlie unattended. I'm going to go calm down, I'll be back later."

With that, he left. Kate drank some of the water; she didn't want to disturb Charlie.

Charlie had fallen silent, still holding onto Claire's hand and she was starting to feel panicked about Aaron. She tried to remind herself that Sun would be coping but she had already had her son stolen once and she didn't want it to happen again. She had to go back, no matter how much Charlie needed her.

Jack hadn't calmed down when he left the hatch, and he hadn't calmed down on the way to the beach. Seeing Locke sitting, watching the ocean was the final straw. He began to storm towards him, hands already drawn into fists.

**A/N: **Please review.


	2. Bring him down here

Jack stormed down the beach, slamming into the back of Locke before he even noticed that he was there. He flipped Locke over onto his back and started to throw punches. Jack could barely even see, only half of his punches connecting, but for each that was his stomach unclenched a little bit more and his mood lightened.

Locke tried to get up and Jack shifted more of his weight down to his legs, pinning his victim down further. His vision was clearing and out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure running before he felt arms link around his waist, pulling him away.

Jack tried to fight against his captor as Locke stumbled up, rubbing his eye as his lip bled. The struggling only succeeded in causing the arms around him to tighten even further.

"Calm down Jack. Calm down now!"

Jack's mind registered Sayid's voice and the rest of the world came into focus around him. People were standing around them, some looking dumbfounded, some excited and others repulsed. He struggled again.

"Calm down!"

He took a couple of deep breaths and felt his body relax, his limbs stop fighting, but despite this, Sayid kept his grip around him.

"If I let you go will you attack him again?"

Jack wanted to say yes; that he had wanted to ever since Locke had put him in charge, convinced him to become the island leader. "No."

Slowly he felt Sayid's arms unclasp, freeing him. He stumbled a couple of steps away and his gaze once again fell upon Locke, who was standing perfectly still, watching him, obviously afraid that Jack would lose control again.

"Do not do it Jack."

He snapped his head around seeing Sayid and sighed, guilt and regret washing over him about Charlie's condition. He felt that he should have been there to stop it, should have somehow realised what was going to happen and stopped it. "Whatever," he almost growled the word and began to walk away from the crowd; he needed to get away from them, from everyone. He needed to find a way to relax now, otherwise he would not be able to for days.

"Are you okay?"

For a moment he thought that Sayid was talking to him and he felt his mood lift slightly. Nobody ever asked if he was okay, they just assumed that, because he was the one who fixed everybody, that he never needed fixing. He was the one who cheered people up, so he never needed cheered up.

"John? I asked if you were okay."

He heard Locke sigh heavily, "I'm fine, no damage done."

Jack cursed under his breath and made his way to the tree-line. Sayid had managed to worsen his mood, and he probably hadn't even realised that he had done so. He disappeared into the jungle, thankful that the trees were hiding him from the crowd that he knew were questioning what he had done.

* * *

"Kate?" Claire watched as Kate came out of her daze, starting, "you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just a bit worried about Jack."

Claire couldn't understand why Kate was worried, as far as she knew there was nothing wrong with Jack, he would be upset about Charlie but she couldn't think of anything else.

"Yeah."

"How are you coping? You know… with…."

"Fine," she knew that she said it too abruptly, answered to mechanically. "Hey Kate, are you able to go down to the beach, check on Aaron for me?"

"Of course," Kate reached out a hand that hovered near to Claire's shoulder and Claire looked at her questioningly, not sure how to react. Kate withdrew her arm to her side, looking slightly embarrassed. "Are you sure," she lowered her voice, "you can be here alone?"

"I can cope, I'm just worried about Aaron; I'm not used to being apart from him this much."

Kate left and Claire got herself a drink before she went to sit down next to Charlie again.

"Hey, what were you talking to Kate about?"

"Just getting her to check up on Aaron. Sun's watching him at the minute."

Charlie's face furrowed in confusion for a moment, "why don't you just bring him down here?"

Claire didn't want to admit it to him but that was the last thing that she wanted to do; she wouldn't trust Charlie within ten feet of her child, the last time they had been united was when Charlie had abducted him and remembering the fear she had felt made her skin come out in goose-bumps.

"No, you know what? He needs the fresh air."

Charlie nodded, obviously satisfied by the answer and Claire had to struggle not to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"You could go and be with him; I don't mind if you leave Claire. I'm not going to do anything!"

"I want to stay," she accidentally rushed her lie and hoped the Charlie wouldn't notice. She tried to talk again, making a conscious effort to make the words come out slowly and tenderly. "I want to look after you Charlie, I want to be here."

His lips twitched into a small smile and she felt proud of herself, she had managed to improve his condition, and that meant that she was edging ever closer to being able to leave him.

**A/N: **Thank you for all the lovely reviews and constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

Kate trod through the jungle, not sure what she should tell Claire about Aaron. If Aaron was fine, then her task was obvious, but if he wasn't, she would either have to lie and risk Claire's friendship, or tell the truth and risk Charlie's health. She was weighing the negatives of each option when she almost collided into Jack. He stared at her for a moment before folding his arms across his chest.

"What are you doing here Kate?"

"I'm just going to the beach," she was starting to feel defensive already. She had never been able to stand it when people tried to control and command her, Wayne, Edward… she didn't like that Jack seemed to take the familiar tone with her.

"And what about Claire?"

"She asked me to go; she wants to know how Aaron's doing." Jack's gaze was challenging and she knew that she wasn't going to win an argument against him. "You feeling any better yet?"

Jack smiled and Kate was surprised, she couldn't remember the last time she had witnessed him without either worry plastered over his features of anger burning in his eyes. "I'm fine, Locke didn't even fight back."

"You didn't hurt him did you?" She hadn't expected Jack to actually go through with the fight; he had only attacked Locke once before.

"Why should that matter Kate? He is the one that caused Charlie to do this. Right?"

She wanted to argue, she wanted to tell Jack that he was taking the blame that should be attributed to Charlie and placing it onto Locke. She almost did argue with him, but she couldn't lose Jack. She needed to keep a hold, however tentative, upon both Jack and Sawyer, so that when trouble came, she would have enough people to count on to save her.

"Right."

She was rewarded for her lie by the traces of the smile returning and the release of tension from Jack's body. "I'm going to go to the hatch, check on Charlie." He didn't wait for her to reply, walking away.

She almost felt like collapsing after he had gone. She hated that she had to deceive him by pretending that she was the coy little girl lost who needed his protection. She certainly wasn't coy, and she didn't need protection. But sometimes, when she closed her eyes, it felt like it would be a nice dream to have. She could have someone to go home to at the end of the day; have a normal life and kids. But then Sawyer would appear and tear up her fantasy, replacing it with his own. With the reality of the dream she had harboured since childhood, the chance to be free, to do anything, to be able to keep running.

She shook her head at herself and began to go to the beach, she couldn't let herself think things like that, and she couldn't give into either fantasy for the simple fact that, if she chose one, she was scared that she would lose the other forever. If she picked the wrong life, she couldn't go back again.

She was fully jolted out of her dreams when she reached the beach and laid her eyes upon Sun, standing at Claire's tent, trying to soothe a screeching Aaron. Her face was flustered, stray strands of hair sticking to her head from sweat and frustration. She spotted Kate instantly and rushed over to her, holding Aaron in her arms.

"Kate, I can not do this! You have to take the baby."

"But…"

"Kate! He needs his mother." The stress in Sun's voice made Kate hold out her arms, having Aaron placed awkwardly inside them. Sun wiped a hand across her forehead, sighing lightly. She took a few seconds, steadying herself and when she spoke again the poise was back in her voice. "What was the fight about?"

"Jack blames Locke for what happened to Charlie."

"Oh."

Kate had expected more of a reaction but Sun looked down to Aaron, whose screams had quietened into whines, smiled weakly at Kate and hurried away.

Kate looked around the beach, trying to think about who could take care of Aaron. She was considering taking him back to the hatch when she spotted Locke sitting by himself. She'd seen him around Aaron before; he would probably know how to keep him quiet. She walked over to him.

"Mind if I sit down?"

He looked up and she took in the cut lip, the bruised eye and cheek that she could instantly attribute to Jack. He smiled when he saw that she was holding Aaron. "Go ahead." She sat down in the sand and nervously jiggled Aaron, he was still whining. "How come you've got him?"

"Sun couldn't cope."

"Ah," he paused for a moment, seeming deep in thought. "I could watch him… you know… if you wanted me to."

There was hope in his voice and Kate felt a pang of guilt that she had to destroy it. She pushed the feelings aside, being on the island was starting to make her weaker. She was beginning to care about people again, and whenever she did, bad things seemed to happen. "Probably isn't a good idea."

"Did Claire say that or did Jack?"

"Jack probably wouldn't like it too much," she decided to change the topic, "how is your face?"

"It's fine, not too much damage done."

"He said you didn't fight back."

"I'm not much of a fighting man Kate." He sighed, "but one day Jack is going to have to realise that the world doesn't have to do what he wants it to, we don't have to be his slaves, obeying his every beck and call."

Kate didn't know how to respond. For a moment she wondered what Locke was talking about before she remembered she was holding Aaron. "I'll ask Claire about Aaron."

Locke smiled, looking down at him again. "He'll be missing his mother, that's why you can't get him to be quiet."

Kate nodded, standing up. "I'll go take him to the hatch." She began to walk away, back up the beach, her mind still reeling over Locke's statement about Jack treating the islanders as slaves, trying to work out how the statement had to be wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack was standing in the hatch, away from Charlie and Claire to give them some room to relax, if that was even possible. He knew that Claire didn't want to be spending time with him and understood that it was a sacrifice for her, but at the same time he didn't think he could have understood if she had refused to keep him company.

He was distracted from his thoughts when he heard someone entering the hatch. His first thought was that it could be Locke, and he felt his body tense, ready for an attack before he heard a high-pitched whining sound and saw Kate, holding Aaron. He was relieved but someone else had heard as well. Claire came flying away from Charlie's side grabbing Aaron away from a shocked looking Kate before hissing, "what the hell do you think you are doing bringing him here?" She took Aaron to another section of the hatch, separate from everyone else and Jack turned to look at Kate. He didn't want to be stern with her but he couldn't help it, he'd had a long day.

"What do you think you're doing bringing Aaron back here?"

"Sun wasn't coping with him… I thought it would be best if I…"

"Did you think about what Claire wanted? Did you even bother to ask her if she was okay with Aaron coming into the hatch?"

"I thought she'd want Aaron to be happy. Sun and Locke said that he needed to be with his mother."

Jack barely noticed that Kate had said that Sun had suggested it, he found himself focusing on the fact that Locke had. This would be revenge for attacking him earlier. "He had no right making a suggestion! He obviously wanted to cause Claire distress by saddling her with Aaron. She already has to look after Charlie."

"He cares about Aaron; he wanted to do what was best for him. When did you get so paranoid Jack?"

The words stung, but Jack was determined not to let her be aware of it. "He doesn't care about anyone Kate; he's the poison in the camp.

Kate shook her head and Jack wondered if he had said too much. He barely spoke his mind, it was always safer not to, to hide his emotions and his true feelings. And from the look of disgust on her face, he should have kept them hidden this time as well.

"I need some air." She turned on her heels, leaving the hatch. Jack looked to either side of him, he could go and find Claire, support her with Aaron or he could go and see Charlie, make sure he was still okay. Neither option seemed very tempting to him.

Charlie stared at the bottom of the bed above him. It reminded him of being back on tour, the tour bus had been fitted with bunk beds, Liam had always made him sleep on the bottom one, taking advantage of the 'eldest picks first' rule. He chuckled, remembering how happy he had once been, not registering Jack entering the room until he sat down next to him.

"Hey Charlie."

Charlie turned his head to look at Jack. "Hey." He had to ask something that had been bothering him since he had woken up, "are you mad at me?"

He searched in Jack's eyes, feeling slightly fearful of the answer. He had never meant to hurt anyone but Claire had been acting strange around him, distant, even though she seemed to want to be there. Jack shook his head slightly, "no, I'm not mad at you Charlie."

"I just couldn't cope anymore. Everything is just too hard sometimes; I thought it would all be easier if I wasn't around anymore."

"I know," Jack laid a hand on his shoulder and Charlie felt grateful for the gesture, "it wasn't your fault."

Charlie pondered over the sentence for a moment, unsure how to interpret it. Did Jack mean that it was nobody's fault, or that it was the fault of someone else? "Whose fault was it?"

"Locke's."

"Oh," the answer confused Charlie more than the previous statement had done. It was true that he'd felt distressed about Locke attacking him, but he'd been feeling depressed occasionally, ever since finding out that Liam was a drug addict. He was feeling tired though, and it would be easier to agree, "I suppose so."

They sat in silence for a moment before Charlie spoke again. "Is Claire okay? She seems distant."

"Claire's doing fine. She just seems distant because she's worried about you."

"Oh," the answer placated Charlie. He had felt slightly guilty about her staying there with him instead of being with Aaron. He wished that she would just bring Aaron with her; that would make everything better, he missed being around him.

Sawyer walked through the jungle, trying to ignore the pain that flashed throughout his shoulder when he moved it too far. He should have gone to Jack for his medication a few hours ago, when it had started to hurt but he couldn't. He knew that he would have to wait as long as possible.

The whole scenario was humiliating, he didn't even like to think about it. He wasn't the sort of man who enjoyed relying upon other people. He'd learnt when he was eight years old that if you did that, you would be let down.

He had almost reached the hatch when he saw Kate standing by herself, a look of anger upon her face. It felt strange; usually he only saw that expression after he'd talked to her. It intrigued him; he leaned against a tree next to her to find out what was wrong.

"Out for a cigarette break?" There was no response so he decided to try again, "yeah, ain't that what all them nurses do when they can't be bothered to look after the patients anymore?"

"Just leave it Sawyer," her voice was quieter than he was usual and he found himself feeling worried, what if there was something wrong?

"You okay?"

The sympathy in his tone made her look up to him. "It's Jack, he just gets tunnel vision. And he's blaming Locke for everything."

The worry evaporated within Sawyer in an instant. Instead he felt angry, both at himself and at Kate. At himself because he'd been stupid enough to show that he cared and at her because she was worrying herself over Jack. He'd never seen her express worry over him and, as much as he wished that it didn't, that fact hurt. He laughed harshly, speaking with slightly more venom than he had intended to.

"Yeah? Well that's his problem ain't it? He thinks he ain't screwed up."

"He ain't…" She paused and Sawyer smirked at his accent rubbing off on her, "he isn't screwed up."

"You can believe what you want sweet cheeks, but we all are. I con, you run, Jack believes the whole damn world's against him. The sooner he realises that it isn't the better off he'll be."

Kate remained silent and Sawyer pushed himself away from the tree, wincing at the over exertion it caused in his shoulder. He began to head into the hatch, wishing that he could turn around and head back to the beach. His conversation with Kate had been humiliating enough and now he had to deal with Jack as well.


	5. Chapter 5

Claire rocked Aaron in her arms; he was starting to calm down now. His whines had shifted into gurgles; she'd be able to get him to sleep soon. She felt angry at Kate for bringing him into the hatch, she hadn't wanted Aaron around Charlie and her wishes had been violated, even if Kate hadn't been aware of what her wishes were. With that brought another problem, one that she had been trying to avoid thinking about.

Charlie, being around him meant that she was being bombarded with more emotions than she knew what to do with. It brought back memories of her return to the camp after Ethan had kidnapped her. Charlie had been so nice to her, so gentle and loving, the perfect friend. But then she would remember the truth about him; he was a junkie and he stole her baby, almost drowning him. She could never forgive him for that, no matter how nice he had been or how much he needed her to.

She felt guilty, letting him believe that she cared. She knew that Jack thought it was for the best but she wasn't sure. What if Charlie got better, only to relapse once Claire left? The thought of keeping up the charade for the rest of their lives filled her with enough terror that she wanted to run away and never look back.

She was disturbed from her thoughts by someone entering the hatch, thinking that it might be Kate again, and wondering if she should apologise, Claire walked back through to find herself face to face with Sawyer.

She had never been so sure what she felt about Sawyer. They had barely spoken on the island and from what she had heard he had never seemed nice. But she supposed that those who didn't know her thought that she did nothing but run around screaming for Aaron all day. She stayed silent, not knowing what to say. After a moment of the uncomfortable silence he spoke instead.

"You know where the doc is?"

"He's through there, looking after Charlie."

"Ah… you know where the medicine is?"

"No." He was about to walk to Jack but she decided that she couldn't let the moment pass, she had to get the opinion of someone whose judgement of her wasn't clouded, she had to know, "do you think I'm a bad person?"

He paused, turning around. "Why you saying that?"

"Because I don't want to be around Charlie. Because I'd rather leave him here and just go back to the beach and be with Aaron even though Jack tells me that I'm going to be the one who saves him."

"You're not a bad person," there was darkness in his voice that she hadn't heard before.

"…I feel like one."

"Well you're not!" He sighed, leaning against a wall and looking away from her. "Trust me when I say that I know what it means to be a bad person. You don't have it in you."

"But Jack said that I have to save Charlie."

He sighed; "if Charlie is suicidal then he doesn't need you. Not specifically. Hell, he just needs someone there to listen to him. Doesn't matter who does it."

Claire was intrigued, wanting to know how Sawyer knew so much about Charlie. "What do you…?"

"It's nothing." The harshness in his tone almost made her recoil and she knew that she wouldn't be able to ask him anything else. "I need to go get my medication." He walked out of the room, and Claire was left holding Aaron alone. She cradled him closer to her body, wondering why, if Sawyer was as knowledgeable as he seemed, she still felt like a bad person.

Sawyer grumbled under his breath as he made his way through the hatch to find Jack. He wasn't blaming Claire for the mood that he had fallen into; he was blaming himself. She had done nothing but ask an innocent question.

He had considered making her believe that she truly was a good person by telling her the truth. By telling her about the women he had conned, the marriages and lives that he had ruined and the man that he had killed. He was willing to bet that she wouldn't feel like a bad person after that.

He leaned himself against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to sort out his thoughts. There was no reason why he needed to tell Claire the truth and chances are she would tell someone who would tell someone else and his carefully guarded past would be revealed for all to revile. Every so often he ended up like this, he would think about telling someone what had happened, if only for them to listen to him, to tell him that he wasn't a bad person.

But it wouldn't work. Even Kate knew too much and all she knew was that he had conned women like Sawyer had done. She had changed around him ever since, looking at him with pity and he couldn't stand it. He wasn't worthy of it. He had finally stopped her by revealing to everyone that she had stolen Joanna's passport. It had succeeded in making him more hated but it had achieved his true goal; not to get onto the raft but to finally stop her feeling sorry for him.

Claire was still in the hatch; it wouldn't take much effort to go over and explain to her once and for all that she wasn't a bad person. He opened his eyes again, shaking his head. He couldn't do it. He'd rather die than let another person pity him again.

"Sawyer? What're you doing here?"

The vulnerability on Sawyer's face was replaced instantly by his favourite smirk, "what? I ain't allowed in the hatch no more?" Jack continued to look at him, confused, still not understanding why he was there, "weren't that long since I were in that bed myself."

"Medicine," Jack walked away and returned a moment later with tablets, handing them over to Sawyer before he headed for the exit.

"We not going to do our dance then?"

He paused, "dance?"

"Yeah; I insult you and then you insult me and we all storm merrily off into the sunset?"

"I don't have time to be dealing with this Sawyer; I need to be focused on Charlie. You got your medication, you don't need anything else."

Sawyer let Jack leave and swallowed the pills, trying to make himself believe that he really didn't need anything else.

Libby sat on the beach, trying to relax. Traversing across the island had left her edge, especially when she saw that Hugo Reyes was there. That meant that she was in danger of him remembering that she had been in the mental institution and she wasn't ready for that to happen. So far she'd been able to get him to remember her as the one who stood on her foot and he seemed happy enough to believe that, even if he was suspicious for a few moments.

She saw Jack walking towards her, briefly looking at Kate who was trying to open a piece of fruit, a look of frustration on her face.

He crouched down, "hey Libby."

"Hi Jack?"

"You got a minute?"

"Sure," she moved to the side of the blanket she was on and he sat down next to her.

"You were a therapist, back in the real world?"

She felt fear flood through her; what if he realised the truth. She was sure that nobody on the island would accept her if they knew the truth. Worried that she was taking to long she decided to answer; "yeah. I was."

"Good, because I need some help."

"With your anger issues?" He looked at her questioningly for a moment. "I saw the fight with Locke earlier and I thought…"

"I don't have anger issues. I actually need you to help Charlie. Having Claire there will placate him but I don't know if it will help him to get better in the long term."

She nodded, not sure what else she could do. "Sure; I'll talk to him."


	6. Chapter 6

Charlie woke up, wondering for a brief moment where he was before everything came flooding back to him. He was lying on the bottom bunk bed of the hatch, stitches along the length of his arms and the feeling of loneliness still gnawing away inside of him. But at least he had Claire back, she had been spending more time around him recently and that made him happy, it meant that there was a small chance that the loneliness would subside and he could feel worthy of being human again.

Listening carefully he could hear the hushed tones of two women speaking, punctuated briefly by a sound that made him smile, Aaron. He sat up unsteadily, his body feeling tired and uncooperative and, using the wall as a support mechanism, he walked out to see Claire standing there, looking at him with panic in her eyes, her body tensed, alongside Libby.

"Hey ladies."

Libby smiled placidly, "hello Charlie. Jack asked me to talk to you…"

"You don't need to; I'm going to be fine. Eh Aaron? Aren't I going to be fine?" He moved closer to Aaron to try to pat his head and was surprised when Claire jerked away. "What's wrong?" He thought for a moment before remembering, "I'm not going to hurt him Claire. I wasn't trying to hurt him then! I was just…" He was beginning to feel stressed; he didn't know why everyone assumed that he wanted to hurt Aaron. Besides Claire, Aaron was the only person that he had on the island. Even if he had been on drugs he was sure he wouldn't have harmed him. But from how Claire hugged Aaron even closer to her chest he knew that she didn't feel the same.

"You need to try to remain calm Charlie. Getting aggravated isn't going to help anyone." He looked at Libby, feeling angry that she was telling him to calm down. "Claire, maybe you should take Aaron back onto the beach."

"Yeah," she walked out of the hatch, holding Aaron as tight as she could manage.

"Charlie… are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay. Claire doesn't care about me." He leaned against the wall, sinking down to the ground.

"She does care Charlie, she just…"

"Doesn't want me around her son."

"Can't you understand that?"

"I didn't kidnap him! That's just what Locke said I did."

"He said that?"

"Well he insinuated it when he tried to murder me!"

"He didn't try to murder you Charlie."

"He punched me, into the bloody sea and I can't swim!"

"Charlie," she sighed heavily, "you can't keep blaming other people for your problems."

"You have no idea what problems are." He stood himself up and made his way away from Libby, "I'm going back to bed. Just leave me alone."

"Hey John."

Locke opened his eyes warily and sat up when he saw Claire standing there with Aaron. "Hey."

"Could you hold him for a minute?" Locke nodded and smiled as Aaron was placed into his arms. He was distracted when Claire slumped down next to him, wiping furiously at her eyes and the tears that still sparkled beneath them. She saw him looking and he felt his stomach clench, expecting to be shouted at to mind his own business but she shot a pathetic attempt at a smile at him. "Can I have him back now?"

Locke held his arms across to her, ready for her to take Aaron away, not happy at the prospect. He'd wanted to keep him for a while; it was nice spending time with someone who didn't judge you for things beyond your control, even if they were less than two months old. He wondered if Claire could see so as well because she didn't remove Aaron, "you might as well keep him for a couple of minutes."

Locke pulled his arms closer towards him, still not very comfortable that he wasn't going to drop him but at least Aaron wasn't showing any signs of distress; instead he was just sleeping. "I'm surprised that you're here."

"At the edge of the beach? I just didn't feel like going any further in."

He chuckled, "here with me. Haven't you heard that I'm evil?" She looked at him inquisitively, "I murdered Boone and now I tried to murder Charlie with my amazing powers of mind control."

"People believe that?"

"People believe whatever Jack tells them to believe." He saw her glancing over his facial injuries, "I'm fine. They don't even hurt." It was a stupid lie; the cuts and bruises that Jack had inflicted hurt like hell, as did the knee-shaped indents on the sides of his stomach from being pinned down but he didn't want people to think that he was so weak that he couldn't handle being beaten. He was drawn out of his own mind when he saw that she was crying again. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She paused, "or not fine… I'm not sure… it doesn't matter what I am anyway. All that matters is that I look after Charlie."

"You don't have to watch him if you don't want to."

"Yes I do. Jack said that he'll commit suicide if I don't make him better so I need to make him better. But I just blew it." He didn't ask why, not wanting to intrude. Usually he was happy to try and mould people to whatever path they seemed to need but this time Claire was actually talking to him willingly and he didn't want to jeopardize that. "I wouldn't let him see Aaron. Kate was stupid enough to bring him down into the hatch and Charlie found out." This time Locke remained silent for a different reason, remembering how he had informed Kate that Aaron missed Claire and allowed her to take him to the hatch. "Is something wrong?"

"What?"

"You went quiet."

"Nothing's wrong, just thinking."

She nodded, "can I have Aaron back now? I'm going to go spend some time with him." He held his arms out and she took him this time and stood up, "see you later?"

"Sure." He watched her leave and lied back down, determined to force himself into falling asleep and trying to quieten the worry that he had screwed things up even further.


End file.
